The Supreme Court has consented to a government decision to file a departmental case against a former member of the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal (district judge), Begum Shirin Kobita Akter, who is currently the district and sessions judge of Chuadanga, for her alleged involvement in corruption while serving as the district judge. The Supreme Court also agreed to the government decision to file a departmental case against additional district and sessions judge of Dhaka-5, Md Juel Rana, for allegedly being involved in corruption. Begum Shirin Kobita Akter allegedly took Tk. 3.95 crore as bribes from three litigants for giving verdicts in their favour in the disposing of three VAT-related cases. Her disposal of the cases has led to the government losing several crores from its exchequer, Supreme Court sources said. Moreover, Begum Shirin Kobita Akter allegedly took a huge amount of money and gifts as bribes from litigants to give verdicts in their favour during her tenure in the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal, sources added. The apex court has also asked the government to appoint the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1, with Dhaka judge Shahed Nur as the investigation officer in the departmental case, sources said.
Considering the gravity of the allegations against her, the four-member General Administration (GA) committee, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, recommended the government to withdraw Begum Shirin Kobita Akter from her present workplace at Chuadanga immediately and transfer her to the Rajshahi tribunal, sources added.
Earlier, when allegations of corruption were levelled against Begum Shirin Kobita Akter, the law ministry appointed former Dhaka tribunal judge Md Ashraf Hossain to conduct an investigation against her. During the investigation, Hossain found that Begum Shirin Kobita Akter accepted Tk. 3.95 crore money as bribes from three litigants for disposing of three VAT-related cases.
According to the investigation report, Begum Shirin Kobita Akter illegally took money and gifts for the disposal of two appeals—No. 106 and No. 185 of 2011—which caused damages worth more than Tk. 5 crore to the government exchequer.
Begum Shirin Kobita Akter also accepted as bribes Tk. 15 lakh for the disposal of Case No. 19 of 2012, Tk. 40 lakh  for the disposal of Cases No. 91 and 92 of 2012, and Tk. 3 crore for the disposal of Case No. 268 of 2010, which caused revenue losses of more than Tk. 16 crore to the government exchequer. Begum Shirin Kobita Akter took the money from high-profile businessmen, including Rangs, while she was a member of the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal, according to the investigation report.
After the investigation report was completed, the law ministry sent it to the Supreme Court on March 21 this year, seeking its approval to file a departmental case against the judge for her involvement in massive corruption.
After scrutinising the law ministry’s proposal, the apex court returned the file to the law ministry on May 11, giving its approval to file a departmental case against Begum Shirin Kobita Akter on charges of corruption.
In another recommendation, the Supreme Court also consented to the government decision to file a departmental case against additional district and sessions judge of Dhaka-5, Md Juel Rana, for his alleged involvement in corruption.
The four-member GA committee, led by the Chief Justice, also asked the government to transfer Md Juel Rana to the law ministry after withdrawing him from his present workplace. The apex court also asked the government to appoint Women’s and Children’s Repression Prevention Tribunal of Dhaka judge, Saleh Uddin Ahmed, as the investigation officer in the departmental case, sources said. Earlier, when the allegations of corruption were levelled against him, the Supreme Court administration conducted an investigation headed by Dhaka district and sessions judge SM Kuddus Zaman. After conducting the investigation, Zaman submitted a report before the authorities, stating that Juel Rana was responsible for massive irregularities in disposing of Case (dewlia) No. 16 of 2000 while he was discharging his duty as an additional judge of Dhaka-5.  Many other allegations of corruption against him were also proved during the investigations and the report recommended filing a departmental case against him. The law ministry then sought the Supreme Court’s approval to file a departmental case against Juel Rana on charges of corruption. Talking to The Independent, law secretary Abu Saleh Sheikh Md Zahirul Haque said that the ministry would take steps against both judges in accordance with the apex court’s recommendation.